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gossipnetwork-blog · 7 years

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Margot Robbie on Playing a Mother Who Puts Herself First in 'Goodbye Christopher Robin'

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Margot Robbie on Playing a Mother Who Puts Herself First in 'Goodbye Christopher Robin'

There’s an adorable moment in Goodbye Christopher Robin—the real life story behind Winnie the Pooh that’s in theaters now—where Daphne Milne (played by Margot Robbie) surprises her son, Christopher Robin (Will Tilston) with a teddy bear. She playfully disguises her voice and delights her son by bringing this stuffed animal to life as only a mother can. Everything about the scene—which takes place in the gorgeous countryside outside of England in the 1920s—is as charming as one would expect of the location that inspired the iconic children’s book.

And yet, there’s an underlying sadness to this moment. It’s post World War I England, and Christopher Robin’s father, the successful humorist and playwright known as A.A. Milne, is quite damaged from the war. He’s also suffering from what we now know is post-traumatic stress disorder. He has moved his family to the countryside in hopes of new beginnings, but Daphne—a London socialite to the core—is lost and deeply unhappy in these surroundings. Her solution? Leave her husband and young son for weeks at a time to pursue her interests back in the city.

“Daphne was passionate about clothes, jewelry, gardening, and decorating,” Margot Robbie says of her character. But was she passionate about motherhood? “No, no, not at all,” the film’s writer, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, explains. “She was terrified of it.”

PHOTO: FOX Searchlight

Although it was actually common for mothers of Daphne’s time—and class—to seldom see their children and let a nanny do most of the child-rearing, Daphne was far from typical. In fact, in many ways Mrs. Milne could be described as the original ‘momager.’ “She encouraged her husband to get his work published and do the publicity,” director Simon Curtis explains. “She liked fame. She liked being married to a famous playwright and author and the mother of a famous [child]. She didn’t see the potential downside. And to be fair to her, no one had experienced the downside before. It was a whole new concept.”

To modern eyes, neglecting parental duties to party and socialize are far from “Mother of the Year” attributes, but part of what makes Daphne—and the film—so fascinating is the purposeful decision not to villainize her for it. “They weren’t trying to make her one thing,” Robbie explained to Glamour. “It was very evident in the script that [the writer] didn’t see her as the bad guy, nor did he make her into this perfect, demure lady. I just loved that she was complicated and had a strong point-of-view. I didn’t want to soften her edges. I wanted to embrace her character flaws and also shine a light on some of her choices and decisions. Though the audience might not like them in the beginning, by the end of the film hopefully they can understand why she behaved the way she behaved.”

Domhnall Gleeson—who plays A.A. Milne—couldn’t agree with his on-screen wife more. “I thought Margot made a brilliant decision not to apologize for her character,” he told us at the film’s London premiere. “She said she’s known people like that in her own life—very strong people who come off as very abrasive, who don’t apologize for themselves—and I love that that’s how she went about playing Daphne. And more so, Daphne weirdly gave her husband more [encouragement and support] than it seems, whether it’s time alone with their child, time alone to write, etc. Dumping him in the middle of a situation where he was uncomfortable was what he needed, and I thought that was really interesting.”

PHOTO: FOX Searchlight

Cottrell-Boyce echoes Gleeson’s sentiment, explaining that “the whole point of her is to make you understand people. She was difficult, yes, and I think you might have judged her if you met her in real life, but the whole point of the movie is to show you that every heart has its reasons.”

Speaking of reasons, “I hope viewers realize how traumatic it was for the women at home from wars as much as it was for the men who were away at war,” Robbie says of Daphne’s decision to immerse herself in a different world. “Just realize for a moment how [that devastation] could affect people’s lives.”

And while most people wouldn’t equate love with seeing your child only for an hour or day, Curtis—who directed the film—says there was no doubt that Daphne truly loved her son and husband. “It might seem strange, but they really did love each other. She was incredibly helpful to her husband. She moved to the country for him, encouraged him to write knowing he won’t be happy unless he did. And then once he [finished his work], she helped promote it. But she was enjoying living her own life, too.”

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cinephiled-com · 7 years

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Interview: Simon Curtis Explores the True Story Behind Winnie-the-Pooh in ‘Goodbye Christopher Robin’

Goodbye Christopher Robin gives a rare glimpse into the relationship between beloved children’s author A. A. Milne (Domhnall Geeson) and his son, Christopher Robin (Will Tilston), whose toys inspired the magical world of Winnie-the-Pooh. Along with his mother, Daphne (Margot Robbie), and his nanny, Olive (Kelly Macdonald), Christopher Robin and his family are swept up in the international success of the books, the enchanting tales bringing hope and comfort to England after the First World War. But with the eyes of the world on Christopher Robin, what will the cost be to the family? I sat down with director Simon Curtis (Woman in Gold, My Week with Marilyn), to talk about this complex portrait of a family caught in the crosshairs of fame.

Danny Miller: To be honest, I had the same trepidation going into this film that I had going into your first movie, My Week with Marilyn. Why fiddle with these icons? And yet I loved both films. I guess I came to believe that if you’re not going to look at the complexities of these human beings, why bother making biographical films at all?

Simon Curtis: That’s exactly my feeling. I thought that both of those stories said so much about the people involved and the way they looked at the world. I was so taken with this script when I first read it. There was this amazing story about the writing of the Pooh books but it was about so much more as well — things that are really important such as war, loss, the creative process, family dynamics.

I was pretty obsessed with Winnie-the-Pooh as a kid but knew nothing about Milne’s life or how much Christopher Robin was based on his own son. Still, I wasn’t totally surprised by some of the author’s own darkness. The Pooh stories always reminded me a bit of Roald Dahl’s children’s stories in terms of their multiple layers. And the Milne characters that I most identified with were Eeyore and Rabbit — not exactly creatures who were all carefree and light.

I think that’s part of the appeal of the books, they work on so many levels. And I’m sure you read the books in different ways during different parts of your life, too. I never wanted to shy away from that complexity. I think the books became so phenomenally successful because they enabled readers to connect with the innocence before the trauma of Word War I, but they also touched on great human vulnerabilities. But despite the difficult moments in this film, I still see it as a love letter to family, in a way. I also think there’s a message here that says, “Pay attention to your children because they’re not going to be around forever!” I also liked the story because I don’t think there are that many films that delve into the complex relationships between fathers and sons.

Everyone in this cast is so amazing but I want to point out Margot Robbie’s performance because I think that was a very difficult part and she totally nailed it. I love how she balanced the character’s personal issues and challenges in a way that still never made me question how much she loved her child.

I agree. When she was focused on her son, she adored him, that’s very clear, but she was able to switch him off — that was the way many people were parents in that class at that time. I recently saw Jerry Seinfeld perform in New York and he did a funny bit about how we tend to our children now like they’re little emperors but his parents barely knew his name. Daphne obviously had her own interests and personality quirks, but she always knew that her son was with his nanny. In those days it was assumed the nanny would give up her life to care for their children.

When you think about it, it’s so extraordinary how famous Christopher Robin became in a time so long before the Internet or social media, and only because of his association with a book.

Yes, that’s very spot-on. They had no way of predicting that the books would become so famous or shine such a spotlight on the boy. There hadn’t really been a child celebrity like that before, so that’s a bit of a defense of the Milnes as well — it was sort of uncharted territory.

It’s true. Today we’re so much more aware of the pitfalls that come from that kind of attention at a young age. I’m sure the parents of the wonderful young actor Will Tilston, who played Christopher Robin, know what to look out for as their son becomes more well known.

Yes, Will has a really wonderful family. And you know the last nine-year-old boy that I cast for the first time who had never acted before was?

Yes, Daniel Radcliffe in the TV version of Great Expectations! From what I know about Radcliffe, he handled it remarkably well, too, considering the unbelievable success and worldwide fame he received from those movies.

Yes, he also has a very wonderful family.

I admit that when I was younger, I was completely in love with your wife, Elizabeth McGovern, from the moment I saw her on screen as Timothy Hutton’s classmate in Ordinary People. Did she have any insights about childhood fame?

Well, it’s true that she went through all the ups and downs of that. And you notice she moved very far away from Hollywood — she’s been in England for many years.

My wife knew her in school and had her mom (who she loved) as her high school English teacher. Your wife always seems to have been very grounded — I’m sure that’s how she escaped the usual pitfalls.

It’s funny — around the world people always want to talk about Downton Abbey when they mention Elizabeth, but when I’m in Los Angeles I always hear about Ordinary People and from the folks who had Katie McGovern as their teacher!

It’s amazing how so many of the locations in the film echo the illustrations in Milne’s books. I assume that amazing tree that we see at the beginning was CGI?

No, it was real!

Whoa! it looked like it was lifted from the pages of the book.

It was an actual tree. We were able to shoot in Ashdown Forest in East Sussex which was the inspiration for the Hundred Acre Wood. That’s the real Pooh Bridge you see in the film, and when they’re sitting on a rock at the end of the movie, that rock actually has a plaque on it that’s dedicated to A. A. Milne which was very moving for us. But that tree you’re mentioning we found in the queen’s private woods at Windsor Castle.

I was surprised to read after I saw the movie that Christopher Milne didn’t talk to his mother for many years before her death. Did you consider mentioning that as part of the postscript at the end?

Yeah, their relationship got even more complex in later years, and we frankly didn’t want to end the film on that kind of sad note. But Christopher Milne did come to terms with his role as Christopher Robin later on. As you see in the film, he ended up running a bookstore with his wife. A friend of mine who’s a very well known director actually visited that bookstore when he was a child and the grown-up Christopher Robin signed his copy of Winnie-the-Pooh which made me think he was at peace with it at the end of his life.

I got a chance to talk to Kenneth Branagh when My Week with Marilyn came out. Talk about perfect casting! I felt the same way about Domhnall Gleason here.

In the case of Ken, he couldn’t have really played the 25-year-old version of Laurence Olivier when he was 25, but he was absolutely perfect for the 50-year-old Olivier. Ken understood the agony and the ecstasy of being in your 50s and no longer the person who’s the hottest person in the room. In my opinion, that’s one of the greatest performances I’ve ever seen, let alone directed. However directing Ken Branagh as Olivier in your first film is not for the faint-hearted!

And, of course, Michelle Williams was extraordinary as Marilyn Monroe, even though I was worried going in that she was nothing like her.

Oh, the slaggings we got in the press when we cast Michelle! But she confounded everyone. She understood herself that Marilyn was an invention, and there was something about her playing that part that just worked.